Newspaper Page Text
MARCH 2, 1957.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
THIRTEEN
Holy See Allows Minor Changes
in Holy Week Liturgy, Communion
For Sick All Day Holy Thursday
VATICAN CITY. Feb. 15—The
Holy See has given permission
for certain modifications of the
sweeping changes made- in the
liturgy of Holy Week last year.
Permission for the changes—
primarily allowing an extension
of the. time limits for the main
services of Holy Thursday and
Good Friday afternoon and eve
ning—was given in a set of dec
larations” issued by the Sacred
Congregation, of Rites.
The document, signed by the
congregation’s prefect. His Emi
nence Gaetano Cardinal Cico-
gnani, states that the restoration
introduced in the liturgical order
of the Holy Week last year was
received with great satisfaction
and practiced with great success.
The new rules have been issu
ed with the approval of His Holi
ness Pope Pius XII, it said, as a
solution to certain practical dif
ficulties expressed by Bishops
throughout the world in their
reports on the use of the reform
ed liturgy in their Sees.
Among other things, the modi
fications allow:
-—An “intermediate form” of
celebrating the Holy Week func
tions by a priest and deacon with
out a subdeacon.
—The main Mass of Halm Sun
day, immediately following the
blessing of palms and procession,
to take place in the afternoon.
The palms may be blessed out
side the church—in the open air
if necessary.
—Taking Holy Communion “to
the sick either in the morning or
afternoon” on Holy Thursday.
—Extension of the time for.
Holy Thursday Masses to from
4 p. m. to 9 p. m., and of the
service of Good Friday to from
noon until 9 p. m. At the same
time, the document stressed that
the Easter Vigil service of Holy
Saturday night must be timed so
that the Mass begins about mid
night except in those churches
where the bishop finds it abso
lutely necessary to hold it earli
er.
—Good Friday adoration of the
Cross by the people en masse, in
stead of individually, when the
crowds are so great that good or
der and devotion might be en
dangered.
The new document, which is
dated February 1, actually makes
only minor changes in the re
forms made in Holy Week in the
decree Maxima R e demptionis
Nostrae Mysteria of November
16, 1955, which was the greatest
change in the liturgy in over 400
years. In the new document, Car
dinal Cicognani notes that the
original decree and the instruc
tion attached to it are still in
force with the exception of those
points modified by the present
document.
The new document states fur
ther that all the formulas of the
new Order, of Holy Week remain
intact. It describes the modifica
tions as having a “directive and
rubrical character.”
The following are the main
points of the “declarations”:
1. The new Order of Holy Week
provides for Holy Week functions
celebrated “with all the splendor
of holy rites”, or in the “simple
rite”. In the solemn rite, three
ministers—.celebrant, deacon and
subdeacon — are required. The
simple rite requires one priest i
only, assisted by young laymen 1
or clerics . i
It has been found that in some
places, especially churches in
small villages, three priests can
not easily be found for the sol
emn rite. On the other hand, at
least one extra priest often is
available. In such cases, the new
dispositions (Article 3) allow for a
deacon or priest wearing the vest
ments of a deacon, to participate
with the priest-celebrant and per
form all the functions which
would be carried out by the dea
con in the solemn rite.
The document notes that it is
thus permitting an “intermediate
form between the solemn and
simple rites.” A form once used in
various monastic rites, this cele
brant deacon combination is now
introduced into the Holy Week
liturgy for “a more decorous cel
ebration of those functions which
are undoubtedly the most solemn
of the entire liturgical year.”
2. Three new elements have
been introduced into the cere
mony of the. blessing of the palms
and procession on Palm Sunday.
Ordinaries may give permission
for the blessing of the branches
and procession and Mass which
follow to be held in the afternoon
(Article 4). This permission may
only be granted, however, to
churches in which e x perience
with evening Masses indicates that
greater spiritual benefits would
result. Furthermore, permission
may only be granted on the> con
dition that these ceremonies will
not be held in the morning in
the same church.
The second element concerns
the place where the blessing of
the palms takes place. The new
Order of Holy Week stated that
the blessing could be performed
in secondary churches, thus al
lowing for the procession to the
main church for the celebration
of the Mass. It has been pointed
out, however, that in many lo
calities there is only one church
and that it would be desirable to
have the blessing performed at
some ether place so that the pro
cession could really proceed to
the church.
The new dispositions (Article
6) gi'ant that if the blessing of the
branches cannot be performed in
another church, the blessing can
be given in a “convenient place”,
even in the open air, near a sac
red shrine, for example, or simply
by the processional cross itself.
The third element concerns the
old practice of the faithful of
keeping the blessed palms. The
new document points out that
when the faithful are unable to
participate in the liturgical func
tion, the pastor should provide
for the general distribution of
palms at a later time.
3. Two new dispositions are
set down for Maundy Thursday.
The new Order of Holy Week
stated that the Mass of the Lord’s
Supper had to be celebrated be
tween 5 p. m. and 8 p. m., and
that the. local Ordinary could also
permit the celebration one or two
low Masses between the same
hours.
Several bishops reported that
various local conditions made this
time interval:too short. The new
regulations (Article 8) permit
I these Masses to be celebrated be-
I tween 4 p. m. to 9 p. m.
j The second concession con
cerning Holy Thursday has to do
with Holy Communion for the
sick. The new disposition (Article
12) provide that “on this day
Communion may be brought to
the sick either in the morning or
afternoon.” The document c»m-
ments that this means that
Holy Communion can be. taken
to the sick all day, whereas pre
viously they could receive only in
the morning.
4. Two concessions are made
concerning the Good Friday serv
ice.
The first concerns the time.
The new Order of Holy Week
stated that the Good Friday serv
ice commemorating the Passion
and Death of Our Lord could be
three o’clock, and in no case could
be held after six o’clock. The new
dispositions now stipulate (Arti
cle 15) that altogether the proper
time is 3 o’clock, the hour when
Christ died, the ceremonies may
be held at any time between noon
and 9 p. m. wherever pastoral in
terests dictate the necessity of
changing the time.
The second modification con
cerns the adoration of the Cross.
The new Order of Holy Week
states that the Good Friday cere
mony may be held only once in
the same church. Because of that
fact, many churches were literal
ly jammed. The. new rules grant
(Article 18) that when the. pastor
can foresee that the crowds will
be so large that the ceremony of
the adoration of the Cross can
not be performed by the faithful
individually without endangering
good order and devotion, the fol
lowing modification may be
made: After members of the cler
gy and those assisting in the serv
ice. have completed their adora
tion in the prescribed manner,
the celebrant will ascend to the
top step of the altar, take the
Cross in his hands, ask the faith
ful to perform the act of adoration
simultaneously, raise the Cross
and show it briefly to the faith
ful. The faithful are then to adore
it “in deep silence”.
Permission to use this abbrevi
ated form is allowed only when
there is a real need for it. The
adoration of the Cross is one of
the culminating points of the en
tire Good Friday liturgy, the new
instruction states, and thus from
a psychological and pastoral view
point it is always desirable that
the faithful be allowed to come
into personal and individual con
tact with the Cross. The mere
fact that individual adoration is
time-consuming is not allowed as
sufficient reason to dispense with
it. It is further stated that the
chanting of the Improperia and
other texts indicated in the Order
of Holy Week should be sung
wherever possible. — even with
the abbreviated adoration.
5. No modifications were made
in the liturgy of Holy Saturday,
the; Easter Vigil. But the Congre
gation of Rites did establish the
following rules for the time of the
Vigil service:
Permission to advance the hour
of the Paschal Vigil may not be
indiscriminately or generally giv
en by an Ordinary to his entire
diocese or region. The Ordinary
may only grant that permission
CHURCH GETS ALUMINUM SKY
Father John Kelly, C.S.P., reads the gospel through a maze of
scaffolding being used to replace the massive ceiling of St. Paul
the Apostle Church, headquarters of the Paulist Fathers, in New
York. The 72-year-old ceiling of the church is being replaced at a
cost of one-half million dollars by a modern enameled aluminum
tile ceiling. Color will be blue and will show the constellation of
stars on the night of the Church’s dedication in 1885. Scaffolding
towers more than 100 feet in the air, (NC Photos)
Our Parishes Report
HAPEVILLE
The March 14th meeting of the
Ladies’ Guild will include a fash
ion show of children’s clothes,
with children of our parishes act
ing as models. Needless to say
we are all looking forward to the
event and to seeing you there.
Clothes modeled will be from the
Junior Bazaar located in East
Point, and our thanks go to Mr.
James Paradies, Manager, for his
generous assistance.
Mrs. Eileen Hall, editor of the
Book Review section of The Bul
letin, spoke at the February
meeting of the Guild. With her
encouragement I think we shall
all make the effort to read a
Catholic book this month.
The Solemn Novena in honor
of Our Lady of Lourdes closed
on the evening of February 11
with a solemn procession and
the blessing of the sick and in
firm with the Most Blessed Sac
rament. Father Raphael Duffy, of
the Passionist Mission Band, con
ducted the Novena.
Reception of members into the
Confraternity of Christian Doc
trine was held on Sunday, Jan
uary 20, at the 8:30 Mass. Follow
ing Mass a breakfast was held
in the cafeteria.
The Jr. Tri-City Club are be-
to those churches or places where
it would be absolutely necessary
to advance the time. The proper
hour should be respected in ca
thedral churches and all other
churches, especially those of Re
ligious, where this can be done
without grave inconvenience.
The original decree had speci
fied that the proper time for the
Easter Vigil is that “which will
permit the Solemn Mass of the
Vigil to begin at about the mid
night which falls between Holy
Saturday and Easter Sunday”.
coming a very active group. Be
sides an ice skating party at the
Figure 8 and group attendance
at a city-wide Catholic dance at
the Immaculate Conception Hall,
they now sponsor their own
dance every Sunday evening be
ginning at 7:45. The dance is
open to all teenagers in the pa
rish. Music is supplied by the
very best of maestros on your
favorite recordings. So let’s all
swing and sway—if you will par
don my 1940 lingo!
The Girl Scouts are in the iuidst
of their annual cookie sale and
are happy to report they are top
ping last year’s record. As a
group they attended the movie
“Ten Commandments” on Feb
ruary 23. Scouts 652 are studying
first aid under the direction of
Mrs. C. E. Walton in an effort to
qualify for their First Aid Badge.
The 7th and 8th graders tho
roughly enjoyed a field trip to
the State Capitol Building and
the famed Cyclorama.
On Monday, February 11 the
Children’s Choir sang High Mass
including the Proper of the Mass.
Spelling contests are being held
among the 7th and 9th graders
in order that a finalist may be
selected from our school to par
ticipate in the Spelling Bee to
be held at Sacred Heart School.
(MRS. ALICE H. MOULTON)
Services For
W. A. Livingston
AUGUSTA, Ga.—Funeral serv
ices for Mrs. Cleo Page Livings
ton were held February 15th at
St. Patrick’s Church, Rev. Arthur
Weltzer officiating.
< Survivors are a niece, Mrs. L.
M. Gedney of Augusta, arid two
nephews, Roy and Raymond
Odum, both of Augusta.
